Roman Gold Coins

The largest quantity of Roman gold coins was minted by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE. Bronze was later replaced with silver for making coins following the ability of the Roman Army to overrun several cities and capture treasures from their enemies. This September, a British birder who'd stopped on the edge of a farmer's field to watch a buzzard and a pair of magpies stumbled onto a trove of 2,000-year-old Celtic coins worth an estimated.

1. Value Of Old Roman Coins
2. Gold Roman Coins For Sale
3. Roman Gold Coins Weight
4. Roman Gold Coins Found
5. Types Of Roman Coins

The aureus (pl.aurei, 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver denarii. The aureus was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century AD, when it was replaced by the solidus. The aureus was about the same size as the denarius, but heavier due to the higher density of gold (as opposed to that of silver).

Before the time of Julius Caesar the aureus was struck infrequently, probably because gold was seen as a mark of un-Roman luxury.^{[citation needed]} Caesar struck the coin more often, and standardized the weight at 140{displaystyle {tfrac {1}{40}}} of a Roman pound (about 8 grams). Augustus (r. 29 BC – 14 AD) tariffed the value of the sestertius as 1100{displaystyle {tfrac {1}{100}}} of an aureus.

The mass of the aureus was decreased to 145{displaystyle {tfrac {1}{45}}} of a pound (7.3 g) during the reign of Nero (r. 54–68). At about the same time the purity of the silver coinage was also slightly decreased.

After the reign of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) the production of aurei decreased, and the weight fell to 150{displaystyle {tfrac {1}{50}}} of a pound (6.5 g) by the time of Caracalla (r. 211–217). During the 3rd century, gold pieces were introduced in a variety of fractions and multiples, making it hard to determine the intended denomination of a gold coin.^[1]

The solidus was first introduced by Diocletian (r. 284–305) around 301 AD, struck at 60 to the Roman pound of pure gold (and thus weighing about 5.5 g each) and with an initial value equal to 1,000 denarii. However, Diocletian's solidus was struck only in small quantities, and thus had only minimal economic effect.

The solidus was reintroduced by Constantine I (r. 306–337) in 312 AD, permanently replacing the aureus as the gold coin of the Roman Empire. The solidus was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of pure gold, each coin weighing twenty-four Greco-Roman carats, or about 4.5 grams of gold per coin. By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 of the increasingly debased denarii.

However, regardless of the size or weight of the aureus, the coin's purity was little affected. Analysis of the Roman aureus shows the purity level usually to have been near to 24 karat gold, so in excess of 99% pure.

Due to runaway inflation caused by the Roman government's issuing base-metal coinage but refusing to accept anything other than silver or gold for tax payments, the value of the gold aureus in relation to the denarius grew drastically. Inflation was also affected by the systematic debasement of the silver denarius, which by the mid-3rd century had practically no silver left in it.

In 301, one gold aureus was worth 833⅓ denarii; by 324, the same aureus was worth 4,350 denarii. In 337, after Constantine converted to the solidus, one solidus was worth 275,000 denarii and finally, by 356, one solidus was worth 4,600,000 denarii.

Value Of Old Roman Coins

Today, the aureus is highly sought after by collectors because of its purity and value, as well its historical interest. An aureus is usually much more expensive than a denarius issued by the same emperor. For instance, in one auction, an aureus of Trajan (r. 98–117) sold for $15,000, and a silver coin of the same emperor sold for $100. The most expensive aureus ever sold was one issued in 42 BC by Marcus Junius Brutus, the assassin of Gaius Julius Caesar, which had a price realized of $3.5 million in November 2020.^[2] (There is an example of this coin on permanent display at the British Museum in London.) An aureus, issued by the emperor Alexander Severus (r. 222–235), has a picture of the Colosseum on the reverse, and had a price realized of $920,000 in 2008.^[3] An aureus with the face of Allectus was auctioned off in the United Kingdom for £552,000 in June 2019.^[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^The Imperial Roman Economy. 'Hoarding, Gresham's Law and All That'. www.forumancientcoins.com.
2. ^'Goldberg Coins and Collectibles'. Images.goldbergauctions.com. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
3. ^'Goldberg Coins and Collectibles'. Images.goldbergauctions.com. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
4. ^'Metal detectorist 'ecstatic' after find on farm turns out to be ultra-rare Roman coin fetching £552,000 at auction'. www.msn.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.

External links[edit]

Gold Roman Coins For Sale

This September, a British birder who'd stopped on the edge of a farmer's field to watch a buzzard and a pair of magpies stumbled onto a trove of 2,000-year-old Celtic coins worth an estimated £845,000 (around $1,150,000 USD).

As first reported by Julian Evan-Hart of Treasure Hunting magazine, the unnamed bird-watcher—who is also an amateur metal detectorist—unearthed the stash of some 1,300 gold coins in a field in the eastern English countryside. Dated to between roughly 40 and 50 A.D., the cache is the largest hoard of Iron Age Celtic coins found in the United Kingdom since 2008, when a car mechanic excavated a stash of 850 ancient staters, or handmade money, in Suffolk.

'I saw the glint of gold and realized it was a beautiful Celtic gold stater, which made me sit down in sheer shock,' the birder tells Treasure Hunting, as quoted by the Daily Mail's Luke May. 'I then spotted the second coin two feet away and rushed home to get my [metal detector].'

Upon his return, the man found that his detector produced a 'really strong' signal—a sure sign that more treasures lingered below the surface. Digging down about 18 inches, he extracted a copper vessel brimming with gold coins dated back to the era when Celtic queen Boudica led a massive uprising against the Romans.

'I had to sit down to get my breath back,' the treasure hunter says. 'I had only come out for a walk and found a Celtic hoard.'

Once the man overcame his initial shock, he filled two large shopping bags with the cache of coins and returned home. Then, he promptly contacted local authorities to report the find. If experts deem the discovery treasure, they will offer it to a museum and potentially offer a share of the reward to the finder. (Current guidelines define treasure very narrowly, but as Caroline Davies reports for the Guardian, the U.K. government is working to expand these parameters in order to better protect the country's national heritage items.)

'The coins form a substantial if not enormous contribution to our academic numismatic knowledge and will undoubtedly be subject to much assessment over the coming year,' says Jules Evan-Hart, editor of Treasure Hunting, in a statement quoted by the New York Post's Hannah Sparks. 'It is possible that [the coins] may form a deposit as a ‘war chest' for Boudica's eastern campaigns.'

A towering figure in British history, Boudica was an ancient warrior queen who revolted against the Romans following her husband's death in 60 A.D. Prasutagus—king of the Iceni, a tribe based in what is now Norfolk—had no male heir, so he bequeathed half of his assets to his daughters and the other half to Nero in the hope that the Roman emperor would protect his family. Unfortunately, Prasutagus' efforts were in vain: The Romans seized and plundered his land, in addition to raping his daughters and publicly beating his widow. Enraged, Boudica raised a bloody rebellion throughout East Anglia; the Roman historian Tacitus later wrote that her forces killed around 70,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons during attacks on three separate settlements. Despite these early victories, Boudica's army eventually faltered. A smaller Roman force defeated the rebels in a final battle at an unknown location, slaughtering around 80,000 Britons while incurring casualties of just 400 men, as Richard Hingley noted for National Geographic in 2019.

The two historians who mention Boudica in their accounts—Tacitus and Dio Cassius—offer differing versions of her fate. According to Tacitus, the queen poisoned herself after suffering defeat. Dio Cassius, however, suggests that she fell ill, died and received an elaborate burial.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^The Imperial Roman Economy. 'Hoarding, Gresham's Law and All That'. www.forumancientcoins.com.
2. ^'Goldberg Coins and Collectibles'. Images.goldbergauctions.com. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
3. ^'Goldberg Coins and Collectibles'. Images.goldbergauctions.com. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
4. ^'Metal detectorist 'ecstatic' after find on farm turns out to be ultra-rare Roman coin fetching £552,000 at auction'. www.msn.com. Retrieved 2019-06-10.

External links[edit]

Gold Roman Coins For Sale

This September, a British birder who'd stopped on the edge of a farmer's field to watch a buzzard and a pair of magpies stumbled onto a trove of 2,000-year-old Celtic coins worth an estimated £845,000 (around $1,150,000 USD).

As first reported by Julian Evan-Hart of Treasure Hunting magazine, the unnamed bird-watcher—who is also an amateur metal detectorist—unearthed the stash of some 1,300 gold coins in a field in the eastern English countryside. Dated to between roughly 40 and 50 A.D., the cache is the largest hoard of Iron Age Celtic coins found in the United Kingdom since 2008, when a car mechanic excavated a stash of 850 ancient staters, or handmade money, in Suffolk.

'I saw the glint of gold and realized it was a beautiful Celtic gold stater, which made me sit down in sheer shock,' the birder tells Treasure Hunting, as quoted by the Daily Mail's Luke May. 'I then spotted the second coin two feet away and rushed home to get my [metal detector].'

Upon his return, the man found that his detector produced a 'really strong' signal—a sure sign that more treasures lingered below the surface. Digging down about 18 inches, he extracted a copper vessel brimming with gold coins dated back to the era when Celtic queen Boudica led a massive uprising against the Romans.

'I had to sit down to get my breath back,' the treasure hunter says. 'I had only come out for a walk and found a Celtic hoard.'

Once the man overcame his initial shock, he filled two large shopping bags with the cache of coins and returned home. Then, he promptly contacted local authorities to report the find. If experts deem the discovery treasure, they will offer it to a museum and potentially offer a share of the reward to the finder. (Current guidelines define treasure very narrowly, but as Caroline Davies reports for the Guardian, the U.K. government is working to expand these parameters in order to better protect the country's national heritage items.)

'The coins form a substantial if not enormous contribution to our academic numismatic knowledge and will undoubtedly be subject to much assessment over the coming year,' says Jules Evan-Hart, editor of Treasure Hunting, in a statement quoted by the New York Post's Hannah Sparks. 'It is possible that [the coins] may form a deposit as a ‘war chest' for Boudica's eastern campaigns.'

A towering figure in British history, Boudica was an ancient warrior queen who revolted against the Romans following her husband's death in 60 A.D. Prasutagus—king of the Iceni, a tribe based in what is now Norfolk—had no male heir, so he bequeathed half of his assets to his daughters and the other half to Nero in the hope that the Roman emperor would protect his family. Unfortunately, Prasutagus' efforts were in vain: The Romans seized and plundered his land, in addition to raping his daughters and publicly beating his widow. Enraged, Boudica raised a bloody rebellion throughout East Anglia; the Roman historian Tacitus later wrote that her forces killed around 70,000 Romans and pro-Roman Britons during attacks on three separate settlements. Despite these early victories, Boudica's army eventually faltered. A smaller Roman force defeated the rebels in a final battle at an unknown location, slaughtering around 80,000 Britons while incurring casualties of just 400 men, as Richard Hingley noted for National Geographic in 2019.

The two historians who mention Boudica in their accounts—Tacitus and Dio Cassius—offer differing versions of her fate. According to Tacitus, the queen poisoned herself after suffering defeat. Dio Cassius, however, suggests that she fell ill, died and received an elaborate burial.

Boudica's people, the Iceni, may have used gold staters as votive offerings in times of political duress, drought or natural disaster, wrote David Keys for the Independentin 2009.

Roman Gold Coins Weight

Speaking with BBC News in 2019, archaeologist Anna Booth said that Boudica's uprising marked a tumultuous time in the region, and as a result, many people may have hoarded coins. At one major religious center, the tribe buried more than 60 pounds of gold and silver jewelry, according to the Independent.

Roman Gold Coins Found

'There does seem to be a slight increase in hoarding in this period,' Booth told BBC News. 'It is a stretch of the imagination, we are not 100 percent sure, but in this region, it is tempting to say this is because of what was happening in this period.'

Types Of Roman Coins

The Iron Age coins are among more than 47,000 archaeological discoveries made in England and Wales this year, according to a statement released by the British Museum. Officials reported that Covid-19 restrictions led to an increase in finds, with many pandemic-worn Brits seeking respite outdoors. Finds included gold coins inscribed with the initials of Henry VIII's first three wives, rare Saxon pennies and a copper Roman furniture fitting.